Data associations

A data association is a user-defined grouping of related groups and elements. It can consist of one or more groups along with some or all of the elements within those groups.

Before creating Rules of Visibility, it is useful to first isolate different groups and elements that you deem to be related in some fashion. For example, a logical grouping of client contact information might include the groups HomeAddress, HomePhoneNumber, and WorkPhoneNumber, as well as all of their related elements. Once you isolate the groups and elements, you can create data associations, which you can then use to create Rules of Visibility.

Sample data association: Client Contact Information

A data association is therefore a user-defined grouping of related groups and elements. It can consist of one or more groups along with some or all of the elements within those groups. Data associations are important because they provide an organized means of creating data-level entitlements for multiple data elements that have a common link in a single Rule of Visibility. For example, instead of creating separate Rules of Visibility for the groups HomeAddress, HomePhoneNumber, and WorkPhoneNumber and all their elements, you can create one rule and use a data association to encompass all of those groups and their elements.

It is important to note that there is a one-to-one relationship between groups and business objects and between elements and business object attributes. Therefore, when you associate groups or elements, you also associate the corresponding business objects and their attributes found in XML request and response transactions.

When you perform tasks related to data associations in the Administration application, you are modifying the DATAASSOCIATION, ASSOCIATEDOBJECT, and ASSOCIATEDATTRIB database tables.

Before creating Rules of Visibility, you should first create data associations. Data associations allow you to link related groups, elements, and element values so that you can more easily assign data-level entitlements to user groups.

Note: Before you can create data associations, you must first define the groups and elements that you want to associate by updating the V_GROUP and V_ELEMENT database tables. For more information on defining groups and elements, see the developer topics for information on setting Rules of Visibility.

For existing data associations in the system, you can view such details as their name, description, and associated groups and elements.

In the Meta Data module, you can edit the name, description, and associated groups and elements of existing data associations.